Email and Commercial Correspondence

143 Announcing celebrations To celebrate 10 years of business with you, we would like to offer you an exceptional discount of 20 % on all our product range. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of our company we … Change in staff / positions We are pleased to announce the appointment of our news sales manager, Ms Nelly Sparks. As from next week, all sales enquires should be addressed to her at: We regret to announce that James Henpeck no longer works with us. His position will be taken by … I have recently joined company as Marketing Manager for Europe … 16.30 Chit chat with colleague you know well Beginning of email I hope you are well and had a great weekend! How are things going in place? How are things? How did the holiday go? How was the match? Did you win? End of email Hope you are enjoying the summer, and look forward to hearing from you. Have a great weekend. Enjoy your holiday I look forward to hearing from you, wishing you a lovely week ahead! 16.31 Sending regards and wishes Sending regards to third parties Say hello to … Please send my regards to … Remember me to … Please convey my best wishes to …

144 Sending regards on behalf of a third party Mrs Southern sends her kindest regards. Anna says hello. Sending holiday wishes Best wishes for the holidays and the new year from all of us here at company. Have a great Thanksgiving! Have a nice weekend. Happy Easter to everyone. May I wish you a … I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a peaceful and prosperous New Year. Please accept our sincere good wishes for Christmas and the New Year. Health problems and condolences I was really sorry to hear about … I can imagine this must be a very difficult time for you … If there is anything I can do to help, then don’t hesitate to let me know. We are glad to have news of … and to hear that he’s making good progress. Please convey our best wishes and kindest regards to him. We have learned with deep regret the sad news of the death of I was deeply grieved to hear of the sudden death of … I would like to express my heart-felt sympathy. Please convey my sympathy also to his family. 16.32 Final salutation Neutral Kind regards Best regards Best wishes Regards

145 With kind regards With best wishes Informal All the best. Have a nice weekend. See you on Friday. Hope to hear from you soon. Speak to you soon. Cheers. Formal business letter Yours faithfully Yours sincerely Sincerely yours Yours truly

17  USEFUL PHRASES: COMMERCIAL 17.1 Making inquiries Asking about products and services We are interested in … We are considering buying … We understand from … that you produce … We urgently need … Do you offer a …? Could you also let us know if you are prepared to … Will you please let us know your prices for … We would like to know whether you could supply … Could you kindly give us a quotation for … Please send us your price list for … Could you send us further details of … I would be grateful to receive samples of … Please could you email us your catalogue along with further details of … Asking for an estimate Please submit an estimate for … Could you send me a quote for the following: Could you please quote your best price for the supply of … Please quote for the following: Informal inquiries about orders What do I need to do to order a …? I would like to know if I can order an xxx directly from you (our company is located in place). I would like to know if it is still available and if so what I need to do to buy a copy. I am looking for an xxx. Do you have one in stock? A. Wallwork, Email and Commercial Correspondence, 147 Guides to Professional English, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4939-0635-2_17, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

148 Asking about pages on a website I have looked for “name” directory on your website, but I couldn’t find it. Could you please send me the complete path … I am unable to find xx that you mentioned – is it on the website? All I can find is … I am unable to download the catalog from your site. Making follow up enquiry Thank you for … Would it be possible for you to send me a bit more information on …? Could you please describe what is included in the … Could you please send me further details about your products along with some samples. Could you email me your sales conditions. What discount could you offer us on orders of over 10,000? 17.2 Replying to inquiries Thanking Thank you for your inquiry dated 6 June. We will be sending you under separate cover a … Thanking you for your inquiry dated 27 August. We can supply product for immediate delivery … In reply to your email dated 6 January, we have pleasure in submitting the following quotation: Thank you for your order No. 123, for which we attach our official confirmation. Replying positively to product inquiry We are pleased to confirm your order No. 9678568 dated 22 April. We have received your order of … Yes, we do have product in stock. We currently only stock x, but getting y within 3–4 days shouldn’t be a problem. Re your recent enquiry, we can offer you … Our best possible price today is …

149 Please find enclosed some information about … We can offer a large selection of … We are able to quote you very advantageous terms. Terms Attached is the estimate you requested. Please note that these numbers are subject to change. This offer is subject to … Our usual terms are … For orders of more than …, we can offer you … If you can increase your order to … we can offer you … Replying negatively to product inquiry We are currently out of x and we do not know when we will be getting more. We don’t have a dealer in your country but company may be able to help you. We regret that we no longer stock this item. Unfortunately we are currently not in a position to supply you with the goods you requested. We regret to inform you that due to … we will not be able to supply you with … Apologizing for being unable to give requested information I am sorry not to be able to give you the information requested. We are sorry to tell you that … We are sorry not to be able to give you a definite reply regarding the above matter. Asking for confirmation Please email / fax confirmation of the above order. We look forward to receiving confirmation of this order. Giving contact details For any technical questions please contact … If you would like further information on … or if you would like to be added to our mailing list … please mail me at the above address.

150 17.3 Making and canceling orders Making an order We have pleasure in sending you our order for … Attached please find our order for … Please supply the following items: We would like to place the following order: Setting conditions for possible purchase If the quality of your products matches our requirements … If you can guarantee a delivery by 18 June / within a month … The device must be dispatched by courier. We are placing this order on condition that the goods reach us by March 10 at the latest. Please ensure that the goods reach us by the end of this month. We reserve the right to refuse the goods if received after March 31. Asking about delivery Could you let me know the shipping cost? How long will delivery take? When can we expect delivery? Do you ship direct to …? How can I track my order/shipment? Please arrange for delivery by … Stating your terms As the goods are required urgently, we would be grateful for delivery by … We must insist on delivery within the time stated and reserve the right to reject the goods should they be delivered later. Please forward the consignment by means of transport. Please arrange for delivery by means of transport. Giving details for the invoice Please invoice us at: Our full address is: Our VAT number is:

151 Changing / canceling an order Could you possibly make the following changes to our order: We have to cancel the above mentioned order. I regret to have to ask you to … We regret that we have to cancel the order contained in our letter of … This is due to circumstances beyond our control. 17.4 Accepting an order, giving details Giving confirmation We are pleased to confirm the above order. We confirm the following terms: Stating terms Our usual terms are … For orders over 600 we can give you a special discount of 10 %. This offer is firm for 10 days. The offer is subject to … This particular order is not subject to the usual discounts. Giving shipment details Shipment is made by express post or registered air. We will confirm any charges with you prior to shipping. We can guarantee delivery by the time stated. We assure you that the goods will be insured at the best possible rates. Checking details Could you confirm a couple of things in your order for me so I can get it posted to you as soon as possible. It’s not completely clear from your order whether … Delivery details / costs The shipping options to Germany are as follows: surface mail, 4–6 weeks, $ 3.97: or airmail, 4–7 days, $ 10.80. If we send the goods via / through air mail it will cost about $ 17.00 USD. Delivery will be made on …

152 We will invoice you upon shipment. Stating when shipment will be / has been made The goods were forwarded today by air. We are pleased to inform you that your goods were shipped / dispatched today. As requested, the shipping documents have been sent to … Delivery will be made on March 10 / next Wednesday / by the end of the month. The goods were forwarded today by means of transport. The goods will be sent tomorrow by courier. Stating next step You will be emailed within 24 hrs of delivery to confirm that the order has been received. After receipt of your payment we will immediately email confirmation of your order. 17.5 Contracts Enclosing Please find enclosed the offer and an unsigned copy of the standard agreement. This is for your perusal only. Herein enclosed you will find two copies of the contract. Explaining content Please note that the annual fee includes maintenance and service. The start date of the contract is date. The contract will be automatically renewed unless you notify us in writing one month in advance. A contract can be transferred and registered for another company. In such case, please notify us of the name of the new company and the address. Please let me know if you see the need for any additions or deletions. Telling client the next step Please return one of the copies, duly signed by you. Please sign one copy of the pdf digitally. Please sign another copy by hand and post it to us by recommended delivery to the following address:

153 17.6 Chasing orders Explaining current status With reference to our order #456 dated 10 March, we wish to inform you that as of today we have not received the goods. We have not yet received the order for product (offer No. 123 dated 6 July, sent by email / post / courier). The goods we ordered on 20 October have not yet been received. Our order No. 123 for product which should have been delivered on date and is now considerably overdue. Explaining consequences Unless the goods can be dispatched immediately … If the order is not sent without further delay, we shall be obliged to cancel the order. Asking for expected delivery time As the product is urgently needed I would be glad if you would dispatch it without further delay. Please let us know by the end of today when we can expect delivery. 17.7 Replying to chase of order Apologizing We very much regret that we have been unable to complete your order by the … Unfortunately we are unable to deliver more than … We are very sorry about this delay in the delivery of your order. We regret that product … … is no longer available. … will not be available before the … … cannot be delivered within the time specified. Explaining reason for delay Deliveries have been held up due to … … a shortage of raw materials. … the breakdown of a machine.

154 … a strike. … staff absence owing to the flu epidemic. … circumstances beyond our control. Unfortunately the main operating machine has broken down. There is a heavy staff absence due to … The execution of your order has been delayed by circumstances beyond our control. Explaining when order will be delivered We regret that owing to … we are still unable to deliver your order No. 123. We are making every effort to execute your order as soon as possible. We hope to deliver part of your order on … The balance will follow the first week of next month. Apologizing again We are very sorry that the delay has caused you so much inconvenience. 17.8 Payment details Enclosing invoice We have pleasure in sending you herewith statement of your account. Attached is our invoice amounting to … We are pleased to attach our monthly statement. Please find attached our invoice for the supply of … We attach our invoice in duplicate / triplicate. We are attaching an invoice for the total amount of the goods. Means of payment I would be glad if you would remit the amount of the invoice to the … Please could you credit our account with the amount. A personal check or money order will be fine if you order by mail. Visa or Mastercard can be used for orders by e-mail, phone, or fax. At this time, credit cards are the only method of payment accepted. All the charges of the Wire Transfer must be borne by you.

155 Terms of payment Payment terms are net thirty (30) days, unless otherwise provided. Please make all payments to: If you pay by credit transfer, payments should be made as follows: Please send remittance advice to: Payment for all purchases should be made by the end of the month following the date of the invoice (full payment details are attached). Please see to the immediate transfer of the amount shown in the attached invoice. All prices are subject to change without notice. 17.9 Chasing payment Reminding I am writing to remind you that we have still not received payment for … May we remind you that we are still awaiting your reply to our message dated … re … I wish to remind you of our letter dated 3 June in which we asked you to … According to our records the following invoice has not been paid: Our invoice # 234 dated 10 March is overdue. We would be grateful if you could settle it within the next ten days. Our accounts status shows that payment for one of your packages is pending and needs to be cleared at the earliest. The details for the same are given below. You may also check these details by logging into your account at http://order.zzxx.com/account. Please give the matter your immediate attention. We enclose a copy of your quarterly statement dated 30 June which shows an unpaid balance of $ 1,999. Re-contacting about the same issue We are surprised that we have still not received a reply to our email dated 30 May in which we ask you to kindly settle our invoice No. 123 which was due three months ago. I would like to inform you that our invoice dated 13 November is still unpaid. We enclose a copy of the statement of account.

156 We regret to have to remind you once again about … Sorry to bother you again. Sharon is our contact for the invoices, but is she also the person who we should be sending the contracts to? Consequence of not receiving payment Given that it was agreed that all invoices should be settled within 30 working days, we must insist on an immediate settlement. Should we not receive payment within 10 working days, we will be forced to take legal action. Unless you settle the account by the end of this month, we shall be forced to take legal proceedings. If we do not receive payment by the end of this week, we will have to … … charge you interest. … cancel your licence. … take legal action. Concluding Could you please let me know as soon as possible when we can expect payment. Could you please get back to me either later today or tomorrow morning. Thanks for your help. Please let me know if there’s a problem with this so I can … Asking for acknowledgement Kindly acknowledge receipt. Please could you acknowledge receipt of this email. 17.10 Replying to a request for payment Apologizing for delay in payment Apologies for the delay in replying. Please find enclosed … as requested. I would like to apologize for the delay in responding to … I regret to inform you that we are unable to settle our account by the agreed date. Stating that payment is being made or will be made We acknowledge receipt of your invoice re …

157 We have instructed our bank to make a credit transfer of € 10,000 in settlement of your invoice. We have pleasure in sending you herewith our check for … in payment of your invoice No. 13 dated 10 March. We have arranged payment of … through name of bank in settlement of … We will be processing your invoice within the next ten days. Stating that payment has already been made We are pleased to inform you that your invoice was paid this morning. Your invoice has in fact already been paid. I will fax you the bank details later this morning. Your invoice No 18 dated 17 September was settled on 17 October by bank transfer (see attached transfer note). Inaccuracies in the invoice or price On checking your invoice dated 10 March we … The item should read xxx not yyy. No doubt it is an oversight on your part but … We would like to point out that … Some mistake must have been made. The reason that your invoice has not been paid is that … it has been dated last year rather than this year. … VAT has been calculated at 20 % rather than 21 %. … the amount does not correspond to the amount on the order. … it has the wrong department in the address. If you could please reissue the invoice, we will then ensure prompt payment. 17.11 Reporting problems with goods received Announcing the problem It has been brought to our attention that … On checking the goods we found that they had been damaged during shipment. You appear to have sent us the wrong order.

158 The following items are missing: The goods you’ve just sent us don’t seem to be up to your usual standards. We are sorry to have to tell you that the goods arrived in a very poor condition. The goods are not according to the samples The service you are providing is not in accordance with the conditions of the order. To our surprise we found that … Generic details Unfortunately, there’s a problem with … We haven’t received … There seem(s) to be … The product doesn’t work. The quality of the work is below standard. Requesting action Could you deliver the missing article tomorrow morning? Please rearrange shipment by air since we need the goods very urgently. We must ask you to … … replace the damaged goods. … credit us with the value of the damaged / returned goods. Adding details that highlight the negative situation It’s not the first time we’ve had this problem. This is the second time this has happened. Six weeks ago, you assured us that … We must point out that this delay is causing us serious problems. Outlining possible consequences If the problem is not resolved by the end of this week, the consequences could be very serious. We’ll have to … … reconsider our position.

159 … contact other suppliers. … renegotiate the contract. We reserve the right to … if we do not receive the goods from you by the end of this month. 17.12 Replying to customer complaints Apologizing We were sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your last order. We are looking into the matter and hope to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We apologize for having charged you the wrong amount. I am very sorry, we should have called you immediately. We are very sorry indeed to hear that … We are sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Please accept our apologies. Giving an update Since our last email to you on 19 August, we have ascertained that … Since receipt of your fax dated 6 March, we have been trying to find out more about the … In reply to our inquiry on your behalf we have been told by person that … According to information received from person it appears that … Please note that … Reassuring I assure you that you will receive the goods by the end of the week. We are happy to send replacements immediately. We assure you that we are doing our best to set things right as soon as possible. Concluding and apologizing again We hope this inconvenience will not affect our good business relations.

160 We hope this delay will not cause you too much trouble. Countering the complaint We are very surprised at your complaint. We have thoroughly examined the items you sent back to us and can find no fault with them. We are still not clear exactly what seems to be the problem. This is the first time we have received such a complaint. According to our records, this was in fact the amount agreed. Offering further clarifications If you need any further details do not hesitate to contact me. Should you have any questions please let us know. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need any further information. Please contact me if you need any further clarifications.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adrian Wallwork I am the author of over 30 books aimed at helping non-native English speakers to communicate more effectively in English. I have published 13 books with Springer Science and Business Media (the publisher of this book), three Business English course books with Oxford University Press, and also other books for Cambridge University Press, Scholastic, and the BBC. I teach Business English at several IT companies in Pisa (Italy). I also teach PhD students from around the world how to write and present their work in English. My company, English for Academics, offers an editing service. Contacts and Editing Service Contact me at: [email protected] Link up with me at: www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adrian/Wallwork‎ Learn more about my services at: e4ac.com A. Wallwork, Email and Commercial Correspondence, 161 Guides to Professional English, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4939-0635-2, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Index This index is by section number, not by page number. Numbers in bold refer to whole chapters. Numbers not in bold refer to sections within a chapter. A F Abbreviations, 10.6, 15.7 Final salutations, 4 Acronyms, 10.6, 15.2 Addresses in business letters, 13.8 Formal letters, 13 email, 1 Formality, 10 business letters, 13.4 Friendly professional approach, 9 All caps, 11.4 Ambiguity, 14.8 H Apologizing for late reply, 6.1 Hyphens, 11.2 Attachments, 12 I B Initial salutations, 3, 11.1 Body of business letters, 13.8 a letter, 13.9 Introductions, 4.1–4.7 an email, 14 Business letters, see Letters L Letters C Chasing, 7 business, 13 Colloquial English, 10.10, 15 layout of, 13.3 Criticizing other people’s work, 8 Criticism (responding to), 8.9 N Non-aggressive language, 9.2 D Dates, 13.6, 14.9 O Deadlines, 5.6 Omission of subject and other parts of Document reviews, 8 speech, 10.5 E Ending, 4.9–4.11 P English Phrases avoiding mistakes, 14.4–14.10 generic, 16 Exclamation marks, 11.3 commercial, 17 Pronouns, 14.7 Punctuation, 3.4, 11 A. Wallwork, Email and Commercial Correspondence, 163 Guides to Professional English, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4939-0635-2, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

164 Spelling, 14.10 Structure, 14 R Subject line, 2 Reminding, 7 Requests business letters, 13.7 Suppliers, 7.7 making, 5 replying to, 6 T Reviewing documents, 8 Text messaging, 15 Thanking, 6.4 S Times and dates, 14.9 Salutations, 3, 4, 11.1, see also Final U salutations; Initial salutations Useful phrases in business letters, 13.8 Sentence length, 10.1 commercial, 17 Signature, 4.10 generic, 16 Smileys, 10.7, 11.3, 15.9 Soft approach, 9